In Singapore and other Asian countries, it is common for people to be bilingual. Children often grow up learning at least two languages – their mother tongue and English. Most use English for communication, and once they step outside their home, the usage of their mother tongue becomes scarce. Nowadays, people even exclusively raise their children to speak English and neglect their mother tongue. Be it Chinese, Malay, Tamil, or any other language, it is often given less importance than English. And even in situations where the parents are interested in teaching their children and encouraging them to use it, it is hard to get children involved and invested in it.
Of course, it is not easy to replace English and only use one’s mother tongue. English, being a global medium, gives you the advantage to understand and communicate beyond any cultural or location difference. But, amidst that, one should not forget their roots, culture, and heritage. Every language has its history and riches that no other language can replace. We must pass it on to the future generation and ensure that it is preserved.
Tips to get your children to enjoy their mother tongue
Explain the history and heritage, and increase exposure
Talk to them about the history, the heritage, and the roots of your mother tongue. Learning all that can create interest in children and make them want to know more. Tell them about the famous personalities and influential people who spoke the language. Introduce traditional literature, classic works, and artforms making use of the language to them. Talk to them in the mother tongue whenever you can. Take them to relatives’ and friends’ houses where they talk the language.
Tell them stories
Who doesn’t love a good story? The best way to teach kids and to get them interested is through stories. Pass on childhood stories to your children. If you have a good enough imagination, try making new stories that will pique their interests. Make them interactive, ask your children questions in your mother tongue and ask them to reply in it. Slowly, you can ask them to tell you stories. Making up stories and trying out creative writing can improve your grasp of the language.
Teach them songs
Another fun way to get your children familiarised and interested in their mother tongue would be to teach them songs. Folk songs, new songs, whatever you might think can catch their attention, try it out. If you think about it, we do have the capability to memorise song lyrics better than any other form of information. Such little tricks can change their understanding and interest in the language.
Movies, series and books!
Encourage them to check out movies or TV series in their mother tongue. Introduce them to interesting titles that you feel are good. You can even have family movie times and discussions for this. It can be a fun bonding experience for the whole family.
Gift them books and encourage them to read. If you can find a good enough book, you won’t have to worry about them learning their mother tongue anymore. Books have that power- to influence and attract everyone. Many people say that they are not interested in reading. But that’s just because they haven’t found the right book for them.
Explain why learning the mother tongue is important
Tell your children why learning their mother tongue is important; from a cultural and personal perspective. If they understand how much you want them to learn it, they will surely make an effort to do so. And also make sure you explain to them the different advantages that they can have if they learn the language.
A collective effort
There are cultural groups and other collectives that are formed based on the mother tongues or countries of origin. You can make use of the opportunities that they provide. Competitions, classes, and other activities can be planned as part of this. It can also help your children find and interact with other children who have the same mother tongue. It can serve as a space where they can interact with young people of similar age in their mother tongue. Here’s a fun activity suggestion – you can organise a treasure hunt where clues are written in your mother tongue and the children will have to make sense of the wordplays and minute details about the language to solve the clues.
Games and Travel
Try word games and guessing games in your mother tongue. You can try making it a weekly event for the whole family. Try giving away a prize for the winner. It will motivate your children to research and learn more about the language so that they can win the prize. If possible, try travelling to places where the language is spoken natively and experience the language and the culture of the places in person. With the removal of Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTL) from 01 April 2022, travelling will definitely be a much sought after experience!
“One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.” – Frank Smith
Hope the above-mentioned tips help you get your children invested in your mother tongue. All the best! 🙂
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